# Keats (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/keats/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname transferred from the nickname or originating as a patronymic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 689 |
| US rank (2010) | 33,196 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 448,107 people |
| Change since 2000 | +8.7% (634 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkits/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From a Middle English byname meaning “kite” (bird), from kete, from Old English cȳta (“kite, bittern”), from Proto-Germanic *kūtijô, diminutive of *kūt (“bird of prey”), from Proto-Indo-European *gū- (“to cry, screech”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Keats in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 88% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 4.2% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 2.6% |
| Two or more races | 3.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Keats in the United States.

## People named Keats

- Steven Keats, American actor (1945-1994)

## Similar surnames

Kates, Kats, Katz, Kitts, Kutz, Kautz, Kottke, Kotowski, Kotz, Kotch, Kowitz.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.